...passion for my art. In my opinion, I have the talent to make something, a honest living, out of it, however with everything going on the past year I've just about stopped doing art entirely. I had a thread dedicated to my progress, but I felt this topic was a bit more pressing and important and I was afraid that if I posted about it there it would be lost in everything else and overall... my thread isn't incredibly active to begin with.

Why is it pressing?

Well... I'm your stereotypical "lazy" artist. Passed high school and got my standard diploma with an impressive grade (read: not really, more like mediocre) per semester and cumulative. Then I spent the summer doing nothing but resub to World of Warcraft and doing nothing but literally stand in Orgrimmar rescanning the Auction House with an addon every 15 minutes. What do I mean by that exactly? I mean... I have literally zero energy or motivation to do literally anything ground breaking.

Hell, I spent more than $300 (not including shipping) on Dick Blick's website getting new art supplies recently trying to rekindle my passion, but it's completely dead. I keep insisting I'll get to my portfolio for Ringling, but the last piece was half did and then forgotten to rot in February. February. And the worst part is? I have no other talents or skills to get by, so art is literally all I can rely on to get me anything. It's depressing. It's, I'm in an art block of epic proportions and I don't want to end up the female equivalent of a 25-year-old neck beard still living with his parents.

At 10/7/12 03:41 PM, J-qb wrote:
just do art
do stupid art that you don't care about
do stupid boring exercises
draw sketches without wanting to make them into finished pieces.

This is pretty much it. I know just how you feel man, but to get over it you've got to get used to doing art you don't care about.

Consider it the same way a sportsman might just whack a ball up against a wall, or a chef sometimes might just want to make some marmite on toast, or a model wanting to sit around in some jogging bottoms and a jumper eating chocolate.

Art is a very tricky thing because you want to do your best all the time, but your output doesn't need to be that way.

Honestly, if you feel this way then you don't want to be an artist enough. If you really wanna improve and will do anything to become an artist then you wouldn't have these feelings. All you can do is man up and put in the hours and get fucking better! Good luck.

J_qb's advice + Give up your subscription to WoW, have your art supplies not locked up in a closet but loosely all around you and find a buddy who paints/sculpts/whatevers too and talk about it with him/her.

A rather disgusting-looking git that should have been disposed of ages ago.

At 10/7/12 03:52 PM, big-jonny-13 wrote:
How about stop putting time and effort into bitching and moaning and instead put it into doing art?

Well, there is something to be said about that approach.

Being totally sincere, I would recommend drawing and independently publishing a comic book. I think this will help in a number of ways:

1. You'll have to set deadlines - whether you want to publish monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or annually, you're going to have to commit to sitting down every day and drawing something.

2. You'll be drawing every day - this goes along with number 1, but it'll help you get back into the routine of making art.

3. You'll draw things that you wouldn't draw otherwise - pretty much whatever subject matter you choose for a comic, at some point you are going to have to draw things outside of your comfort zone, and that's always a good thing in terms of experience.

4. You'll have a finished product that speaks to both your artistic ability and professionalism - if you can show that you have both the technical skill and the discipline to produce finished work on a schedule, that's going to mean a lot when it comes to future illustration jobs. If nothing else, it'll make a pretty cool business card.

5. Potentially, you can make a living doing this - Granted, this is a bit of a long shot, but it is possible to make money with a self-published title. It'll take a lot of work and you'll have to get out there and promote yourself as an artist both on the internet and at conventions. But if you are serious about making money off of your work, shouldn't you be doing that anyway?

I am in a situation similar to yours. Like a lot of people, I went to school, actually got two degrees, and then got out of school to discover that there were no jobs for me. After a year of looking and not finding anything, something kind of snapped and I had a moment where I said, "You know what? Fuck it. I'm going to do something with the only real skill I have, which is art."

So, in July of this year I sat down and I started drawing a comic following a script that I had started writing back in 2011. It had been over a year since I had drawn anything and I was not confident at all that I would finish this (it wasn't the first time I tried this). But, I started a blog to track my progress and about a month later I sent my first issue to the printer.

And then over August and September I started on the second issue, which I finished just in time for an October release.

And the best part is that I can see my art and storytelling abilities actually improving. I feel so much more confident now in my ability to draw things, because over the last three months I have drawn so much that it's really becoming second nature to me now. Before, if I had to sit down and draw a scene, I would sit there and agonize over it thinking "Oh man, how am I ever going to do this? This sounds really hard." And now, I'll read what I have written down in my notes and say, "Alright, I guess I'm drawing this today," and just go for it.

To be clear, I am anything but a success story and I have yet to make enough money to even cover printing costs, BUT, as an artist, going through the process has helped me immensely.

As an aside, if you can spend $300 on art supplies then you can afford printing costs. $300 would just about cover my printing costs for 2 months. Check out Docucopies (which is the printer that I use) and I think you'll find that it's actually pretty affordable.

Anyway, that's my advice, based on my own experiences with similar situations.

Draw the Mona Lisa eating a sandwich! Seriously do that right now, look up the painting, a picture of a sandwich if necessarily and start drawing! It's the best advice I can give you.
And seriously stop playing WOW. I knew at least two people who were addicted to WOW, have quit playing and are now successfully studying at college.
Being passive is usually a downwards spiral to nothingness so DO SOMETHING. If you don't like it, try something else. But definitely don't give up just because being lazy is easier! You'll see that as soon as you start actually doing something productive, you'll start to feel better.
As for having 'no other talents or skills to get by'. That is completely irrelevant. You go to college to learn stuff, if you already had the skills you wouldn't have to go to college. People who are experts in subjects they haven't studied yet are not as common as you think.
So if you passed high school (even if you weren't a straight-A student), you definitely do have other options. Just choose something you care about or at least have a faint interest in.

If you care enough to post about it on this forum, show us you care enough to try. Draw the Mona Lisa eating a sandwich.

OT; Although I wouldnt know anything about an artistic block (I am no artist), I do recognize your boredom. You seem bored and that feeling can really get a hold of you.

One thing I wonder about though is the length of this issue youre having. Are you going to follow a study of some sort? I assume your parents also pressure you to do stuff.

Throughout my uni-years (just recently got my degree) I was at times really bored. I did work and study, but I also took way to much time off to just chill and do nothing but drug out a bit. When I noticed friends around me in comparable situations dropped out, I recognized the danger of my issues.

Still I often have a severe lack of incentive. I am pretty active when it comes to doing fun stuff with friends, but I am terrible when it comes to taking steps to progress in real life. I too have the lack of motivation. even now I have my degree I am finding it difficult to step out of my comfort zone.

back to you

What I try to do to combat this is really obvious and sounds simple (not really though). Just make agreements with yourself. Set goals for the coming week and try to honor them. Keep them realistic at first and possibly intensify later on. Make sure that you would agree that if you make honor your own goals you are satisfied. (pretty much what Johnnycancer said)

If applicable; set your alarm. If you do not have any obligations for a certain day, wake up 'early' anyway, make use of your day which is doable when you have set goals.

be active; one thing I learned is that doing active things with friends is more rewarding then just chilling with them. I am someone who can really enjoy chilling on a couch with a movie and a beer. I also tend to lure friends into this setting. And although this can be really nice as well, doing other stuff, outdoors preferably, is often way more rewarding and will give much more energy the next, or the same, day.

Again, being bored (if thats the case, I do seem to recognize it in your post) can be quite a strain. in any case dont underestimate it. I didnt have it at your age, but pretty soon into my second year of uni. I started sleeping during the day and living during the night (definite sign). Even took a night job to support this lifestyle.

And although the above may sound pretty basic, it probably will help. You will get incentive again to make art and enjoy it like you did. it will basically get you back on track a bit.

good luck

God invented evolution 'cause he couldn't do it all by himself! Awesome Tees!

At 10/7/12 06:34 PM, Aigis wrote:
What I find inspires me to make art is looking at other people's art and seeing what amazing things can be accomplished if you set your mind to working on your own artistic abilities.

I get art blocks quite a bit, which would probably explain why my presence here is so sporadic. Now that I'm in an art school though, art blocks aren't really an option.

I've noticed the main reason it happens to me is that I start feeling like I don't have any good ideas.
Try doing one of the COWs or CHOWs or the Draw Your Character My Style thread. Even take a couple ideas from one of those 100 Theme challenges that float around the internet. Don't worry about being original, just take an idea and start drawing. Maybe whatever you're working on will help you spark up an idea of your own.

Identify why you no longer want to "make art". Maybe it's an insecurity of being judged by your peers. Maybe you're desperate for attention and lack of it makes you lose purpose. Hell, maybe you look at your art with nothing but disgust and refuse to acknowledge that you will in fact get better.

Whatever, but there is some driving issue for you that's ruining your motivation and will to create, and unless you address that anything else is going to be a temporary fix at best. Write it down, be brutally honest and acknowledge exactly why you feel that, and then get the fuck back to drawing 12 hours a day.